new Animal Cruelty law Animal lovers are hoping a new federal bill will help to prosecute tricky cases of animal cruelty that may begin in Tennessee. The new law increases the federal response to acts of animal cruelty. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act is intended to be an upgrade to legislation that targets videos of violence to companion animals but does not specifically outlaw the violent acts themselves. The legislation will not directly change Tennessee laws. Under current state law, a non-aggravated first offense of animal cruelty is a misdemeanor. Only a second offense or aggravated act of violence is a felony, punishable by up to one year in jail. The federal law will allow prosecutors to respond to animal cruelty crimes that take place across state lines, including online videos, in a way they previously did not have jurisdiction to do. Some of our biggest cases have been in the Tennessee Walking Horse industry. There have been documented cases of abuse that have been hard to prosecute or punish because of jurisdictional issues. The new bill provides for federal fines and imprisonment of up to seven years on conviction.